similarities between baker v carr and wesberry v sanders

5. . Most importantly, the history of how the House of Representatives came into being demonstrates that the founders wanted to ensure that each person had an equal voice in the political process in the House of Representatives. An issue is considered a non-justiciable political question when one of six tests are met: This claim does not meet any of the six tests and is justiciable. The fact is, however, that Georgia's 10 Representatives are elected "by the People" of Georgia, just as Representatives from other States are elected "by the People of the several States." . . King stated that the power of Congress under 4 was necessary to "control in this case"; otherwise, he said, The representatives . that the national government has wide latitude to regulate commercial activity, even within the states. a group of citizens proposes a law banning gay marriage in a state, which the public then votes on in an election. [n7] Were Georgia to find the residents of the [p26] Fifth District unqualified to vote for Representatives to the State House of Representatives, they could not vote for Representatives to Congress, according to the express words of Art. PS-110 Chp. As will be shown, these constitutional provisions and their "historical context," ante, p. 7, establish: 1. that congressional Representatives are to be apportioned among the several States largely, but not entirely, according to population; 2. that the States have plenary power to select their allotted Representatives in accordance with any method of popular election they please, subject only to the supervisory power of Congress; and, 3. that the supervisory power of Congress is exclusive. . 15, 18, fairly supports its holding. Elected politicians are the real locus of executive power. In urging the people to adopt the Constitution, Madison said in No. The difference between challenges brought under the Equal Protection Clause and the Guaranty Clause is not enough to decide against existing precedent. While those who wanted both houses to represent the people had yielded on the Senate, they had not yielded on the House of Representatives. Cf. Although the majority below said that the dismissal here was based on "want of equity," and not on nonjusticiability, they relied on no circumstances which were peculiar to the present case; instead, they adopted the language and reasoning of Mr Justice Frankfurter's Colegrove opinion in concluding that the appellants had presented a wholly "political" question. 11. 162; Act of Nov. 15, 1941, 55 Stat. 276, reversed and remanded. [n42] The requirement was later dropped, [n43] and reinstated. 7-8. 1896) 15. In this manner, the proportion of the representatives and of the constituents will remain invariably the same. [n38] This statement was offered simply to show that the slave [p40] population could not reasonably be included in the basis of apportionment of direct taxes and excluded from the basis of apportionment of representation. . at 532 (Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts). She has also worked at the Superior Court of San Francisco's ACCESS Center. Section 4 states without qualification that the state legislatures shall prescribe regulations for the conduct of elections for Representatives and, equally without qualification, that Congress may make or [p30] alter such regulations. 28.See id. In No. at 606. Suppose the citizens of a tri-city area need public transit to move across city lines. Should the people of any state by any means be deprived of the right of suffrage, it was judged proper that it should be remedied by the general government. Baker petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. 8266, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. Smiley v. Holm, 285 U.S. 355, Koenig v. Flynn, 285 U.S. 375, and Carroll v. Becker, 285 U.S. 380, concerned the choice of Representatives in the Federal Congress. Contrary to the Court's statement, ante, p. 18, no reader of The Federalist "could have fairly taken . ." . 276, 279-280. 575, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. How would this new jurisdiction best be described? 42. . . [n15] Moreover, the statements approving population-based representation were focused on the problem of how representation should be apportioned among the States in the House of Representatives. XIII, with N.J.Const., 1844, Art. In sharp contrast to this unanimous silence on the issue of this case when Art. WebAs in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 , which involved alleged malapportionment of seats in a state legislature, the District Court had jurisdiction of the subject matter; appellants had The Court's holding is,of course, derogatory not only of the power of the state legislatures, but also of the power of Congress, both theoretically and as they have actually exercised their power. The complaint alleged that appellants were deprived of the full benefit of their right to vote, in violation of (1) Art. 1343(3), asking that the apportionment statute be declared invalid and that appellees, the Governor and Secretary of State, be enjoined from conducting elections under it. But a court cannot erase only the districts which do not conform to the standard announced today, since invalidation of those districts would require that the lines of all the districts within the State be redrawn. We do not deem [Colegrove v. Green] . . b. See infra, pp. Section 5 of Article I, which provides that "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members," also points away from the Court's conclusion. ." It is not an exaggeration to say that such is the effect of today's decision. [n19]. Further, it goes beyond the province of the Court to decide this case. . Spitzer, Elianna. . One would expect, at the very least, some reference to Art. . 6-7. . . Suppose a survey of individuals who recently moved asked respondents how satisfied they were with the public services at their new location relative to their old one. . People doubt her as a female roofer: Were proving them wrong every day, She rescues baby squirrels: Theyre quite destructive. WebCarr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) established that the states were required to conduct redistricting in order to make that the districts had approximately equal populations. Elections are equal when a given number of citizens in one part of the state choose as many representatives as are chosen by the same number of citizens in any other part of the state. It goes without saying that it is beyond the province of this Court to decide whether equally populated districts is the preferable method for electing Representatives, whether state legislatures would have acted more fairly or wisely had they adopted such a method, or whether Congress has been derelict in not requiring state legislatures to follow that course. Federal congressional districts must be roughly equal in population to the extent possible. [n27]. 287 U.S. at 7. District boundaries can When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. 608,441295,072313,369, Missouri(10). Baker, like many other residents in urban areas of Tennessee, found himself in a situation where his vote counted for less due to a lack of representation, his attorneys argued. Pp. The main reason for this is that Australians modeled their 1901 constitution on the American example. [n2], Notwithstanding these findings, a majority of the court dismissed the complaint, citing as their guide Mr. Justice Frankfurter's minority opinion in Colegrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 549, an opinion stating that challenges to apportionment [p4] of congressional districts raised only "political" questions, which were not justiciable. The likely explanation for the omission is suggested by a remark on the floor of the House that, the States ought to have their own way of making up their apportionment when they know the number of Congressmen they are going to have. Federal courts could create discoverable and manageable standards for granting relief in equal protection cases. See infra, pp. . The democratic theme is further expressed in the Constitution by the declaration that the two houses of the legislature are to be chosen by the people and by the requirement that the Constitution can be amended only by a majority of electors in both the federation as a whole and a majority of the states. What is the most valid criticism of this study? The history of the Constitution, particularly that part of it relating to the adoption of Art. The cases of Baker v. Carr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) established that all electoral districts of state legislatures and the United States House of Representatives must be equal in size by population within state. Wesberry, a voter of the 5 th District of Georgia, filed suit on the basis that his Congressional district had a population 2-3 times larger than other districts in the State, thereby debasing his vote. Further, on in the same number of The Federalist, Madison pointed out the fundamental cleavage which Article I made between apportionment of Representatives among the States and the selection of Representatives within each State: It is a fundamental principle of the proposed Constitution that, as the aggregate number of representatives allotted to the several States is to be determined by a federal rule founded on the aggregate number of inhabitants, so the right of choosing this allotted number in each State is to be exercised by such part of the inhabitants as the State itself may designate. Suppose that Congress was entertaining a law that would unify pollution regulations across all fifty states. Many of the most important powers conferred on the federal legislature are essentially the same, or very similar, to those in the United States: taxation; trade and commerce with other countries and among the states; borrowing money; naturalization; bankruptcy; coinage; weights and measures; postal services; copyrights and patents; and defense. 32-33, indicate that, under 4, the state legislatures, subject only to the ultimate control of Congress, could district as they chose. The power appears to me satisfactory, and as unlikely to be abused as any part of the Constitution. . 539,618312,890226,728, Washington(7). Following is the case brief for Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964). They have submitted the regulation of elections for the Federal Government in the first instance to the local administrations, which, in ordinary cases, and when no improper views prevail, may be both more convenient and more satisfactory; but they have reserved to the national authority a right to interpose whenever extraordinary circumstances might render that interposition necessary to its safety. The decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia is reversed and remanded. . 11725, 70th Cong., 1st Sess., introduced on Mar. [n55][p47]. I, 4. [n5] After full consideration of Colegrove, the Court in Baker held (1) that the District Court had jurisdiction of the subject matter; (2) that the qualified Tennessee voters there had standing to sue; and [p6] (3) that the plaintiffs had stated a justiciable cause of action on which relief could be granted. Three levels of federal courts Supreme, Circuit (Appellate), Federal district Stare decisis Let the decision stand. 48. Again, in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 232 (1962), the opinion of the Court recognized that Smiley "settled the issue in favor of justiciability of questions of congressional redistricting." Sign up. This decision, coupled with the one person, one vote opinions decided around the same time, had a massive impact on the makeup of the House of Representatives and on electoral politics in general. The delegates were well aware of the problem of "rotten boroughs," as material cited by the Court, ante pp. The constitutional requirement in Art. . [n26] The deadlock was finally broken when a majority of the States agreed to what has been called the Great Compromise, [n27] based on a proposal which had been repeatedly advanced by Roger [p13] Sherman and other delegates from Connecticut. . WebBaker v. Carr (1962) is the U.S. Supreme Court case that held that federal courts could hear cases alleging that a states drawing of electoral boundaries, i.e. . Some states might regulate the elections on the principles of equality, and others might regulate them otherwise. 553,154303,026250,128, RhodeIsland(2). 369 U.S. at 232. 491,461277,861213,600, NorthDakota(2). "; (2) the Due Process, Equal Protection, and Privileges and Immunities Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and (3) that part of Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment which provides that "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers. The fallacy of the Court's reasoning in this regard is illustrated by its slide, obscured by intervening discussion (see ante pp. Id. In that case, the Court had declared re-apportionment a "political thicket." I, sec. 539,592373,583166,009, Kentucky(7). He stated that his proposal was designed to prevent elections at large, which might result in all the representatives being "taken from a small part of the state." . What inference can you make? 1983 and 1988 and 28 U.S.C. Colegrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 549, 564, and 568, n. 3 (1946). The status of each state and how the laws applied within were a significant difference in the facts of Baker v. Carr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964), which had an impact on the application of the Supreme Court's judgement. supra, 93-96. No. 841; 87th Cong., 1st Sess. 21.E.g., 1 id. Why might a representative propose a bill knowing it will fail? . I, 4, which the Court so pointedly neglects. I, 4, in sustaining this power. Eighty-five percent responded that they were more satisfied with the services at their new locale. . 663,510198,236465,274, Arkansas(4). (For a book-length discussion, see here.). . The principle decided in Marbury v. Madison has always been regarded as axiomatic in Australian constitutional law. [n29] After further discussion of districting, the proposed resolution was modified to read as follows: [Resolved] . Attorneys on behalf of the state argued that the Supreme Court lacked grounds and jurisdiction to even hear the case. It cannot be supposed that delegates to the Convention would have labored to establish a principle of equal representation only to bury it, one would have thought beyond discovery, in 2, and omit all mention of it from 4, which deals explicitly with the conduct of elections. . The last mode, has with reason, been preferred by the Convention. . [n20]. . But, as one might expect when the Constitution itself is free from ambiguity, the surrounding history makes what is already clear even clearer. The three cases Baker v. Carr, Wesberry v. Sanders, and Reynolds v. Sims established that states were required to conduct redistricting so that the districts had In short, in the absence of legislation providing for equal districts by the Georgia Legislature or by Congress, these appellants have no right to the judicial relief which they seek. 4054. That is the high standard of justice and common sense which the Founders set for us. . Similar bills introduced in the current Congress are H.R. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. I had not expected to witness the day when the Supreme Court of the United States would render a decision which casts grave doubt on the constitutionality of the composition of the House of Representatives. at 50-51 (Rufus King, Massachusetts); 3 id. Id. . I believe that the court erred in so doing. . It established the right of federal courts to review redistricting issues, when just a few years earlier such matter werecategorized as political questions outside the jurisdiction of the courts. 333,290299,15634,134, Ohio(24). at 180, 456 (Hugh Williamson of North Carolina); id. We do not believe that the Framers of the Constitution intended to permit the same vote-diluting discrimination to be accomplished through the device of districts containing widely varied numbers of inhabitants. The constitutional and statutory qualifications for electors in the various States are set out in tabular form in 1 Thorpe, A Constitutional History of the American People 1776-1850 (1898), 93-96. 2, Government in America: Elections and Updates Edition, George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, Robert L. Lineberry, Christina Dejong, Christopher E. Smith, George F Cole, federalism (chapter four) multiple choice que. This dismissal can no more be justified on the ground of "want of equity" than on the ground of "nonjusticiability." [n45][p17]. . WebWesberry sought to invalidate the apportionment statute and enjoin defendants, the Governor and Secretary of State, from conducting elections under it. * The quotation is from Mr. Justice Rutledge's concurring opinion in Colegrove v. Green, 328 U.S. at 565. . We noted probable jurisdiction. . . 71. The extent to which the Court departs from accepted principles of adjudication is further evidenced by the irrelevance to today's issue of the cases on which the Court relies. The populations of the districts are available in the biographical section of the Congressional Directory, 88th Cong., 2d Sess. How to redraw districts was a "political" question rather than a judicial one, and should be up to state governments, the attorneys explained. 13-14), from the intention of the delegates at the Philadelphia Convention "that, in allocating Congressmen, the number assigned to each State should be determined solely by the number of the State's inhabitants," ante, p. 13, to a "principle solemnly embodied in the Great Compromise -- equal representation in the House for equal numbers of people," ante, p. 14. WebCharles W. Baker and other Tennessee citizens argued that a 1901 law designed to apportion the seats for the state's General Assembly was virtually ignored. I, 2, prevents the state legislatures from districting as they choose? [n33] And the delegates defeated a motion made by Elbridge Gerry to limit the number of Representatives from newer Western States so that it would never exceed the number from the original States. supposes that the State Legislatures will sometimes fail or refuse to consult the common interest at the expense of their local conveniency or prejudices. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case, holding that congressional districts should have equal population to the extent possible. Other provisions of the Constitution would, of course, be relevant, but, so far as Art. . . 33.Id. In the last congressional election, in 1962, Representatives from 42 States were elected from congressional districts. So far as Article I is concerned, it is within the State's power to confer that right only on persons of wealth or of a particular sex or, if the State chose, living in specified areas of the State. 3. . [State legislatures] might make an unequal and partial division of the states into districts for the election of representatives, or they might even disqualify one third of the electors. What was an immediate consequence of these rulings? . I love them.. . I, 2, lays down the ipse dixit "one person, one vote" in congressional elections. . Time & \text{Nonconformities per Unit} & Time & \text{Nonconformities per Unit} \\ . I, 2, of the Constitution provides that Representatives are to be chosen "by the People of the several States. I would examine the Georgia congressional districts against the requirements of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The justification for this would be that pollution is a collective-action problem, so the federal government is in the best position to address it. Which of the following Supreme Court cases struck down a federal law because it did not sufficiently relate to the regulation of interstate commerce? Govt. Those issues are distinct, and were separately treated in the Constitution. . 49. ; H.R. 39-40. It soon became clear that the Confederation was without adequate power to collect needed revenues or to enforce the rules its Congress adopted. But he had in mind only that other clear provision of the Constitution that representation would be apportioned among the States according to population. VII, which restricted the vote to freeholders. . In my view, we should therefore vacate this judgment and remand the case for a hearing [p20] on the merits. . 39-40. 735; Act of Jan. 16, 1901, 3, 31 Stat. Each time redistricting plans were drawn up in accordance with the federal census and put to a vote, they failed to get enough votes to pass. Although there is little discussion of the reasons for omitting the requirement of equally populated districts, the fact that such a provision was included in the bill as it was presented to the House, [n49] and was deleted by the House after debate and notice of intention to do so, [n50][p44] leaves no doubt that the omission was deliberate. ," and representatives "of different districts ought clearly to hold the same proportion to each other as their respective constituents hold to each other." Ibid. Indeed, the Court recognized that the Constitution "adopts the qualification" furnished by the States "as the qualification of its own electors for members of Congress." WebCarr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) established that all electoral districts of state legislatures and the United States House of Representatives must be equal in size by

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